When you finish reading the chapter I gave you in class from Anne Lamott's book, Bird By Bird: Some Reflections on Writing and Life, answer the following reflection questions. When you write your response, think about how you can organize your answer so it is not simply a list of answers to my questions. Instead, use these questions to frame your response in paragraph form. You might even need a topic sentence or thesis statement to introduce your ideas....
What role does editing and drafting seem to play in Lamott's writing?
After she has written her first draft, does she agonize over what comes next, or relish in more drafts?
Does your own writing process share any characteristics with hers?
What seems to be achieved by finishing the "shitty first draft?"
What, if anything, is Lamott trying to show or teach us about the work of a professional writer?
If you misplaced the article or were not in class, you can check out a reprint of it here.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Wynne, I try to click the link to print the article but it does not seem to be working. Is there another way that I can get a copy of the article?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWriting is a multiple step process. It is not something that is accomplished on the first try. In Anne Lamott's book "Bird by Bird: Some Reflections on Writing and Life" in the chapter Shitty First Drafts she talks about how important the shitty first draft is. She writes whatever comes to her mind, regardless of what it is, in the first draft. It is an important step for her and all other writers as well. "For me and most of the other writers I know, writing is not rapturous. In fact, the only way I can get anything written at all is to write really, really shitty first drafts." (Lamott, 22)
ReplyDeleteAfter writing the shitty first draft, Lamott would go back to it, and edit it further. Thus creating a much better second draft. She goes through this process much easier than when she first sits down to write her first draft. She goes through her first draft, editing it with ease and confidence to create the second draft. And after the second draft she'll go through it again to create the third draft to make sure it is as good as can be.
Anne's writing process begins with getting whatever is in her head down on paper. She believes that since no one will read it, it doesn't matter what you write down. After that is done she will go back and revise her first draft and continue with the second draft, and so on and so forth. She also takes any negative thoughts floating away in her head and locks them up in a jar. My writing process is, unfortunately, nothing like this. I usually don't write out drafts, and I never lock away any negative thoughts in my head.
What seems to be accomplished by finishing the "shitty first draft" is getting all your thought down on paper. Regardless of how ridiculous it is, it's there. No one is going to read it, so it doesn't ever matter. Out of everything you write you can possibly find something worth expanding on. "There may be something in the very last line of the very last paragraph on page six that you just love, that is so beautiful or wild that you now know what you're supposed to be writing about, more or less, or in what direction you might go." (Lamott, 23)
Lamott is trying to show us that even the best writers don't sit down and write an amazing story off the top of there heads. They all write shitty first drafts to help them get started on an amazing piece of writing. She is trying to show us that writing takes patience, and time and that with neither of them you just won't have what it takes to pump out a good piece of writing.
Christopher, excellent summation of Lamott's point of view, and good integration of examples from your own experience of writing. Do you think that these "shitty first drafts" could become more important to you as you write more and more? Do writers have to practice the process of writing to really understand the purpose of the process?
ReplyDeleteIn this chapter ("Shitty First Drafts") of her book, "Bird by bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life", Anne Lamott, explains us the relevance of editing and drafting while writing. Let's put it this way, if writing was life, editing and drafting would be food and water, which are two prime things a human being cannot live without! One is not born with a writer's talent, he must acquire it. Therefor, one must write down "shitty first drafts" before his article, book, novel, ... turns out to be a "perfect writing". This step of the process will enable the writer to put his/her ideas, opinions or whatever is crossing his/her mind on paper, whether it is relevant or not.
ReplyDeleteAfter writing the first draft "the child's draft", the endless pages of complete nonsense which no one is going to see though, where ideas jump from one point to another, where nothing is organized, ... Lamott would choose the relevant parts, "go through it all with a colored pen, take out everything I possibly could, find a new lead somewhere on the second page, figure out a kicky place to end it, and then write a second draft. (...) I'd go over it one more time and (voilà!) mail it in" (Lamott, 25). Although, the "shitty first drafts" were stressing to write because the writer has the impression that his work is not leading him to something concrete, this step is considerably helpful, it's much easier to properly organize your writing afterwards.
My writing process is in some way similar to Lamott's. I write down whatever is going through my mind, feel lost while doing so, believe that my writing is "terrible", then go back through my draft and pick all the information that is pertinent. However, I find it hard to do so for some writings, the hard part being able to choose what is relevant or not after the "shitty first draft". I find myself wanting to write about all the ideas that came through my mind. Consequently, from the start I tend to organize my first draft!
"Almost all good writings begins with terrible efforts. You need to start somewhere. Start by getting something-anything-down on paper" (...) The first draft is the down draft-you just get it down. The second draft is the up draft-you fix it up". (Lamott, 25) I believe these sentences sum up what is achieved by finishing the "shitty first draft", it is just a matter of organizing, choosing, and formulating in a comprehensive way what you had written before. Everything on paper, thus writing a "shitty first draft", just makes it easier for you to write a "terrific draft".
In other words, Lamott is trying to show us that writers weren't born writers, they became writers; they don't naturally write "fully formed passages" and "sit down routinely feeling wildly enthusiastic and confident" (Lamott, 21), they take their time, "bird by bird", write plenty of drafts before getting to a writing that one can call "perfect"! The "shitty first draft," is an important step, "this is how (writers) end up with good second drafts and terrific third drafts" (Lamott, 21) and at the end with a great novel!
Cindy, nice analogy (food: writing) in the first paragraph of your response. Using a comparison like that, whether it be metaphor, analogy, simile or other kind of comparison is often a good tool to explain someone's ideas, or enlarge the perspective of your own ideas.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you engage in similar practices to Lamott's: I think everyone has a different process they find most useful to start writing.
In this reading, Anne Lamott was really blunt when it came to talking about her writing processes. Lamott mentioned that when it came to drafting, it is best to get it all down by writing your “shittiest” first draft. What she meant by that was that when you are drafting, it is ok for it to sound terrible because it is for your eyes only. So for that first draft, just get all your thoughts and ideas down on paper. When it came to editing, Lamott said that she would go through her work with a colored pen, take everything out, find a new lead, figure out a kicky place to end it and go on to write the second draft. That seems to be the system that worked for her for a pretty long time.
ReplyDeleteWhat I got from this article is that Lamott never really agonized over what came after the first draft. She was more worried and paranoid about getting that first draft out of the way. She even said, “the whole thing would be so long and incoherent and hideous that for the rest of the day I’d obsess about getting creamed by a car before I could write a decent second draft.” (Lamott, 25) After that first draft was written, Lamott would then relish in more drafts and then revise it in that funny way she does and be done.
Like Anne Lamott, when I sit down to write, I too, have many voices in my head. The voices range from my older sister saying that my paper sucks to my Professor saying that my work is anything but good. When I start to write, like Lamott, I just get all my thoughts down on paper. By time I am done my paper looks a mess and there are arrows here and notes in the margin and even sometimes there are post-its. But in the end, it comes out just fine.
After accomplishing the first draft, all your thoughts and ideas are on paper. With that you can see what needs to be changed, added, taken out, or reworded. This is a good thing because even though everything is unorganized and sloppy, remember that you are the only one who is going to see and it is not completed just yet.
In this entire article, what I got from it is that Lamott is saying as a writer, it is ok to have a shitty first draft. She mentioned in the beginning that not many accomplished writers sit down feeling confident and ready to write and in that way I relate to all those writers because when I write I am not confident in the least. I will sit down at my desk staring at blank sheets of paper and not know what to write. And when I begin to write I will rip the entire paper up and when I start writing again I would go back to that same paper I ripped up and revise that and add it to my new sheet of ideas. I believe that Lamott is trying to show that before you can write anything, you have to first get all your ideas down on paper because in the end that is the foundation of what could be a great piece of work.
In Lamott's writing, it seems that editing and drafting are used to assort her ideas and form them into a successfully written review. Once the first draft is completed the hard part is over. "The first draft [...] is where you let it all pour out [...] knowing that no one is going to see it and that it can take shape later."When writing any paper I allow for my mind to wonder as I type away on the keyboard. I usually end up with several stories vaguely pertaining to the topic. These stories generally give me the necessary tools to create a well informed and complete paper. So I think the "shitty first draft" allows for the writer to open the flow of ideas without the caution. From this chapter, I think Lamott is trying to put everyone at ease about writing, by simply saying even the best writers do not automatically create masterpieces (except the one's "we do not like very much"). Writing,like every other task, is a process and not a gift from god (in most cases).
ReplyDeleteDrafting and editing is essential to making a good final product. It allows you to express feelings and ideas that may turn out to be influential to the last piece that everyone sees. It is important to write multiple versions based on the original ideas from the "Shitty First Draft". The first draft is meant for thoughts that randomly come up, which could be relevant or irrelevant to the subject matter. The reason why it is useful because writing is not a one step process and it needs planning and thought before the final product is presented. Lamott explains the importance of first drafts, "Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere" (Lamott, 25).
ReplyDeleteAfter the first draft is written, Lamott builds on the ideas and the progress she has already made. The first draft allows her to express her ideas and thoughts. She can then take out everything that is irrelevant to the subject matter and write a second draft based from the original ideas. Lamott, along with many other good writers, can take the good from the bad and can fix it up to make it sound the way it is supposed to be. Once the first draft is written, it gives you the chance to use every idea and build from it, as well as, correcting mistakes such as grammatical errors and sentence structure.
Writing requires multiple drafts in order to present the best possible ending product. The first draft is important to simply jot down ideas that you may or may not decide to use. My writing style is very similar to her writing style because when you write, the chance of you getting it perfect the first time are slim to none. Therefore, it is important to start with a first draft and build on what you already have.
Writing is a difficult process, even for a professional. Since no good writer is perfect, it is important to write a first draft because you will always have something to look back to. It also allows you to stay focused and it will prevent the writer from going off topic. Lamott explains that it is nearly impossible to produce a good piece of writing without a first draft. Even professional writers have a hard time and writing is a process that involves a lot of drafting and editing.
Shitty first drafts by Anne Lamott
ReplyDeleteBird by bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. Anchor Books, New York: 1995
Writing a shitty first draft, helps Anne Lamott finds her true writing. But before she starts writing, she is in a great deal of pain. Its like pulling needles from her body, its a suffering, pain staking ordeal. Anne does not know where to start, how to start and what to start writing. Anne has to quiet the voices in her mind that takes her thoughts away from concentrating, keep herself focus and not to be thinking about going to get something to eat. She has to perform an exercise to quiet her mind before she can write.
However, writing a shitty first draft gets her to the idea of the story. She relishes in editing and writing several drafts, eventually getting to the whole story.
Lamott tried to teach us that a professional writer’s job is not rapturous at all, it is painfully agonizing.
I concur with her whole heartedly. I often have to write and rewrite before I truly know what I want to write. It is even harder to start writing. I never know what where or how to begin. However, I always feel a sense of accomplishment when I’m done.
In the first chapter of book Bird By Bird, Anne Lamott discusses the key points of writing a “shitty first draft”. First, you have to write a first draft, which will not always be a work of art. The purpose of writing the first draft is to get out all your thoughts so you have something out on paper. After you write your first draft, you write a second and third draft. In your second draft you take your ideas from your first draft and organize them and attempt to clearly say what you want to say. The third draft is your final draft. This is where you check for any mistakes before you give it in to whoever wants/asks for it. Lamott uses these techniques so that she starts out horrible and ends up writing well. When writing a first draft, I always take a deep breath and stretch my fingers before I write. This is similar to Lamott’s prewriting process. Lamott teaches us that almost every good writer starts off with a “shitty first draft” and ends up with something that everybody would read and somewhat enjoy.
ReplyDeleteIt seems Lamott is a bit of an interesting character. She's a fairly successful writer in her own right, yet her instructional work seems more a string of justifications than anything substantial. She claims that all of her "writer friends" have just as much difficulty putting pen to paper as she does, but I wonder if that isn't simply a short sighted instance of projection. If this chapter speaks to the quality of the rest of her works, it certainly may be.
ReplyDeleteYou see, to Lamott, drafting is a way to allow yourself to begin the writing process with out any pressure of actual accomplishment. I can picture her sitting in front of the computer, trying to think of something witty to start out with. Alas, she can't, and submits to writing a bunch of trash until she stumbles across something useable. After Lamott has her first draft down, the rest appears to be easy. She seems adept at refining her writing once it's on paper, and it's to this skill that she owes her success.
My writing process differs from Lamott's. I aim for fluid and natural progression from start to finish. I sit in front of the computer for a few minutes, organize my thoughts into a smooth, coherent argument, and let loose. A 3 page essay will come around in about 30 minutes. Research papers aren't particularly suited to such style, and thus take much longer. My writing focuses on efficiency. I try to be succinct, and fluid above all else. I avoid fluff, but appreciate style. Second drafts, if I write them, are there for the purpose of perfecting what is already a coherent and fluid work.
Lamott's method has its merits. It makes it easy to sit down and start writing. Unfortunately, it inhibits her style and flow due to the fact that the substance of her writing comes out through edits. It's obvious to me in this chapter that we've been given to read, and I imagine it's obvious in her other works as well. She tries so hard to be clever, but sounds so unnatural that her casual attitude works against her rather than for her. She's trying to explain to us that all writers go through such a process, but I find it hard to believe her. I think that her method is one that she's forced to fall back on due to a lack of natural writing talent. I can't help but feel like she's a smart ass high school student trying so hard to be a clever writer that she admires.
Her process will probably help many people. Such people are those that can't write naturally, and need to follow a step by step process to getting it done and out of the way. I can't see what writers who aim to write as an art form could get out of such a system. The passages sound forced, and as a result lose impact. In the end, I wonder if I shouldn't emulate the woman "God can't even stand", or as I'd call her, the real writer.
In the chapter “Shitty First Drafts” from her book Bird by Bird: Some Reflections on Writing and Life, Anna Lamott discusses her ideas on what she believes is the key process to a well-written final piece. She talks about some of her experiences with writing and how she came to realize that constant revision of a first draft is really the best method for producing the best possible work. She points out how even the best writers have to put a lot of work and thought into making what they write to be so good in the first place. They don’t produce the perfect sentences from the top of their head, they have to constantly edit and shape them.
ReplyDeleteLamott tells the reader that the purpose of the “shitty first draft” is for the writer to just get their main ideas and thoughts written down first. Structure is not yet important at this point. “Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere. Start by getting something – anything – down on paper.” (25) From there the writer can shape these thoughts into cohesive sentences for a second draft, and then work on improving the draft even more until they reach something they are fully satisfied with.
The techniques she describes are almost completely similar to the process I have discovered to improve on my own writing. I can relate to the experience she had where she was stuck and could not think of anything to write, as I have had a countless amount of them. I also used to think that good writing means having great ideas flow naturally. Eventually I decided to not stress over it and try a different approach by taking it one step at a time. I realized that my essays and whatever else I wrote would come out noticeably better when I would first vaguely jot down all the important details, and after that I would be able to improve on them further instead of trying to figure out perfect sentences on the spot. For me, it takes a great deal of effort to write something that I can finally consider decent. Writing my own personal “shitty first drafts” enables me to first focus on what I need to write, and then decide on how exactly I want to write it.
Writing doesn’t come easy too everyone, not even to a professional author who gets paid to write everyday. There’s steps to be taken to get that perfect paper, that right print. In Anne Lamott's book "Bird by Bird: Some Reflections on Writing and Life" in the chapter Shitty First Drafts, Ann Lamott expresses how she stresses on getting started on her food columns for a California Magazine. She tells us of how she uses the first draft as a way to tell everything that needs to be said no matter how ridiculous it may sound. Which in terms calls it your “shitty fist draft”, a draft that no one else sees, that’s helps her work off to make the next draft even better.
ReplyDeleteDuring the writing process there are steps to achieve success in writing about any subject. After writing this first draft, the next day Anne Lamott would sit down and take out everything that would help make her writing better than it was before. Using a colored pen to find new leads and just get rid of things that did not belong, or make sense. She doesn’t seem to stress over as to what comes next but just to use what she has a produce better drafts in the future.
When I read this chapter I don’t see much of the same characteristics as to Anne Lamott when it comes to writing papers. I take a little different approach to drafting and editing my papers. I like to go head on with writing projects, and look over my work. I choose not to just write whatever that’s on my mind in my first draft but to really focus on the topic in hand and stick with it. But yet it all comes down to the writer and how they choose to do there work.
What I believe you achieve by finishing the “shitty first draft” is self satisfaction, the fact of knowing that you got over the biggest hurdle in writing, which in my opinion is getting started. With your first draft your more loose, and are able to make more mistakes without consequences. You are able to move forward after your first draft, letting your writing become only better from that point.
The work of a professional writer is just as a novice writer. Anne Lamott shows us these things by relating it to some of the problems she has as a food critic. What she is trying to show us as readers is that writing can be hard for all of us, and that the only easy way of getting over that is to write, and express yourself on the first draft of your writing. She shows us that there are some steps that we can take to make the process easier for us. By repeating, rewriting, and editing. We get something that satisfies all of our need, and requirements in a piece of writing. Something that Anne Lamott shows clearly in this chapter.
Writing may seem sometimes complicated, hard, or even annoying to many scholars, but what many people don’t know is that writing isn’t easy for author themselves, it seems as if writers just write down anything that flows in there heads on paper, but that’s far from reality. As the author of “bird by bird” Anne Lamott says “we all often fell like we are pulling teeth, even those writers whose prose ends up being natural and fluid”.(Lamott 22).
ReplyDeleteLamott has a unique when it comes to editing and drafting, in shitty drafts she says how she usually goes back to her first draft, and edits it more. as a result she creates a better second draft. The second draft comes out easier to write because she has already done the process before. With poise and self-assurance she edits her first draft, which later on creates her second draft. In subsequent to it her third draft is created making sure that is as perfect as it can be.
Anne usually begging by writing anything that is on her mind. She quotes “ first draft is the child draft, where you let it all pour out and then let it romp all over the place, knowing that no one is going to see it and that you can shape it later. (Lamott 22). When she is done she goes back and modify her first draft to continue the process of the second and the third draft. Sadly, my writing process is not familiar to Anne’s in any way, hers is very organized, and well though through, my in the other hand is slight different I usually out line , highlight and research when I write, sometimes it ends up confusing me.
I believe that Lamott is trying to teach the importance and the difference a first draft can cause as an author writes, she believe is not always easy, but the right technique would end up being extremely helpful. Writing first draft or writing your thoughts down may sound some how absurd, but is worth it. Because you may find the most beautiful quote, that might have just started as a though “ there may be something in the very last line of the very last paragraph on page six that you just love, that is so beautiful or wild that you know what you re supposed to be writing about, more or less, or in what direction you might go.” (Lamott 23)
Anne is trying to show us that even authors, don’t just write things off their heads, they also write shitty first draft to develop their ideas. These draft at the long run end up master piece and stories that become ,Icons, movies, or even bestsellers. She’s also trying to shoe us that writing requires endurance, and handwork, without these tools god writing wouldn’t be possible.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAnne Lamott's intent in this article is to point out that authors arn't just 'superheroes' who can pump out good thought-provoking stories and papers 'faster than a speeding bullet' within the confines of a cozy office, and that they have the same troubles anyone has. Indeed, the author even admits that she'll sit there in a blank for a few hours before she starts with a chicken-scratch work to form the basis of her piece, and then she'll revise it over and over again with each draft becoming easier and easier.
ReplyDeleteAs is my style I want to contradict her tale and claim that I can produce brilliant works on the first try, but it would be a filthy lie. Actually I share the same problem as the author, where I will end up sitting there for hours before I give in and type an absolutely dreadful paper, which ends up providing my work with a strong skeleton to work from. After that I'll add flesh for the next several hours: some grammar here and a thesaurus there - and finally whala, the difference is astounding and I have a finished piece in hand!
Shitty First Drafts.
ReplyDeleteIn her short chapter, Anne Lamott humorously describes and also mocks herself as she describes the writing process all authors go through when they are writing anything. She uses herself as an example, where she describes the importance of a first draft in her writing. In fact, it seems as though it is the most important part of her process because it is the beginning of it all. It is where she puts everything that is on her mind down on the paper. Although writing it is stressful, and she is self-conscious about her poor writing, it helps her relax for the other drafts. Once she has gotten everything down, she gives herself time to relax and comes back the next day to make the changes she seems fit once she clears her mind.
Writing a first draft helps the paper become organized because you have all of your ideas down and you can see them and visibly arrange them in a way in which they will make the most sense. Personally, I don't usually write first drafts, but sometimes I wish I would. Like her, I always feel like my writing is a first draft is terrible and it makes me want to stop writing. However, I think that that is what she is trying to teach in this passage. She is a great entertaining writer, but she also has trouble with her drafts. Writing is like a sport, or anything else is life. There are people who are naturally geniuses, but even they have to work at what they do. There are also people who are not as talented, but can achieve the same as the others because they work just as hard. Writing is practice and drafts are the perfect practice because they allow you to look at your mistakes, fix them, and understand why you did them, so the next time, you will know better.
When you write a first draft, you are setting up your final draft, and you are making it so that you don't miss anything. It is a tool to become a better writer as well as to make your writing easier.
Reading over the rest of the posts here, I see that there is a wide range of opinions about Lamott's stated method of composition.
ReplyDeleteSome people identified with her process, some only write one draft, thereby eliminating the need for terms like "first," and some people wish they would find time or energy to write more than one draft.
I hesitate to discredit or question any writer's process, but as for myself, I have learned to appreciate the value of more than one draft, especially for longer papers and stories. Even when papers receive good grades, there are still ways to improve them.
Besides drafts, how else do you prepare to complete an assigned paper? Notes? Outlines? Do you write it "in your head" first?
In Lamott’s chapter, “Shitty First Draft,” she stresses the importance of drafts in writing. In Lamott’s writing, drafts are the stepping stones to creating a good piece of writing, and the first draft is essential. This is the draft that does not matter to anyone but yourself, it is the canvas for your ideas which will later be thoroughly thought out, expanded on, and hence, more concrete. The author tells that writing the next draft is a lot smoother and makes more sense after have written a first draft. It is easier to know what comes next once you already have started the writing process. I, like Lamott, feel that the most difficult part in writing is starting. Once I write something down, wheather it is in no particular format, not grammatically correct, or has 10 contrary ideas in the same paragraph; writing makes so much more sense when you have something to work with. It is beneficial to any writer to finish the “shitty first draft” because it is the outline to your outline, or whatever the second draft may look like. From this chapter, Lamott teaches us that the writing process of a professional writer is no different from that of any college, high school, or even elementary student. There is no such thing as a first and last draft, and the writing and editing process is never complete.
ReplyDeleteIn this chapter of Lamott’s book Bird by Bird:Some Instructions about Writing and Life, Lamott brings forward the useful method of how to compose a first draft. Lamott gives us the key, thestart up: the draft. It is the free write starting point of an intriguing essay. Its where you make all the errors and unrational statements to later fix them with your rational state of mind. During the first draft , you cant believe how crappy your paper looks but as Lamott all you have to do is look it over and just restructure the mold with either a new lead or end it with a good line from page 6. (Lamott,25)
ReplyDeleteShe shows us how to switch all gears while in the process of drafting. To first hit the fast writing mode where you ramble on pages and pages of your first draft, then in the second read it and hit central points and organize it to give it sense, then in the third is when you start plucking out all the unnecessary words and paragraphs that take away from the essence of the writing . My own writing comes out shitty as first as well all my words come out unorganized but I am still able to comprehend what I wanna bring forward with those words and I start to format it. This is the best way to draft because it unclogs your thoughts when you write everything down .This allows you to not second guess your next step or feel like you’ve left anything out because once its out you can criticize your thoughts and reform it to its best.
Most of us get so wrapped up into doing a first draft like a final with over analyzing what to write down and how to present it. The key on writing a first draft is jotting down everything freely that comes to mind because when you try to organize it before the thought comes out, you can block out a huge great thought. The first draft is the drilling of the mind on the page until you hit the gold stone , and this only occurs when you exclude format and grammatical precaution while writing your first draft. This prevents you from giving in a final piece with unnecessary boring lines that unattracts the reader and can just destroy the rest of your essay. When you get the process of a shitty draft out the way, you wont hand in a shitty paper.